For Red Cross, Aid Conditions Hit New Low in Afghanistan
By ALISSA J. RUBIN
Published: December 15, 2010
KABUL, Afghanistan — The International Committee of the Red Cross, which usually seeks to avoid the public eye, held a rare news conference here on Wednesday to express deep concern thatAfghanistan security had deteriorated to its worst point since the overthrow of the Taliban nine years ago and was preventing aid groups from reaching victims of conflict.
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“The sheer fact the I.C.R.C. has organized a press conference is an expression of us being extremely concerned of yet another year of fighting with dramatic consequences for an ever growing number of people in by now almost the entire country,” said Reto Stocker, the head of the Afghanistan office.
By every measure that the Red Cross tracks, the situation has worsened throughout the country for civilian casualties, internal displacement and health care access and all of it is “against the background of a proliferation of armed actors,” Mr. Stocker said.
The Red Cross began working 30 years ago in Afghanistan when Afghans started to fight the Soviet occupation. Unlike many other groups, it maintains dialogue with all sides in conflicts so that it can treat victims of violence regardless of their allegiances. The Red Cross admission that it is unable to reach people it has a mandate to help is a measure of the gravity of the situation here.
Throughout the country civilian casualties have risen steadily, Mr. Stocker said, pointing to the growing numbers of wounded taken to Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar, which the Red Cross supports. Compared with 2009, admissions so far this year have increased by 25 percent to 2,650, and an increasing proportion of wounds are from roadside bombs, he said.
The number of internally displaced people — those who have fled conflict or natural disaster — has also risen 25 percent compared with last year, Mr. Stocker said. He noted that the Red Cross might be undercounting because it could no longer travel to many parts of the country.
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